Hydrochlorination of myrcene



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(Al/susa woud@ 3a HYDROCHLORINATION 'OFMYRCENE 'Richard Weiss, Brooklyn, N.Y., assignor to Van Ameringen-l-Iaebler, Ine., New York, .N.Y., a corporation of New York Application July 11, '1957, Serial N0.-671,248

8 Claims. (Cl. 260631.5)

This invention relatesto hydrochlornation of myrcene 15 and treatment of the resultant products.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a tsimple, etiicient process for such hydrochlorination and treatment.

The invention accordingly comprises the novel `processes and steps of processes specific embodiments of which are described hereinafter by way of example, and vin ac- .cox-dance with which I now prefere to .practice the in- .-venton.

It has heretofore been proposed to hydrochlorinate myrcene. In the patent to Knapp et al.,.2,609,388, the hydrochlorination of myrceneis described, `and the statement is made that the hydrogen .halide .addsuprefer- .entially at one of the double bonds inthe conjugated portion of the myrcene, giving mainly geranyl, neryl vand linalyl halides. I have found that the product obtained in accordance with said patent contains 50 to 60% of 'conjugated diene. This is -shown clearly by the `infrared Ispectrum vof the product, which is referred Ato below :in

ylliig of the drawings.

I have, found in accordance with my invention that I may'hydrohalogenate myrcene in the presence of a cop- ;per catalyst having a valency of less than 2, and including metallic copper, which has a valency of zero,to produce myrcene hydrohalide, where the hydrogen halide is comloined in the conjugated system. The-product contains less than 15 and usually not over 3% of conjugated diene. y. .The hydrohalogen which I prefer to use is hydrogen chloride, although hydrogen bromide may be employed instead thereof.A The copperpreferred is copperbronze, though .other forms of metallic copper may be ;used, as well ascompounds having a valency less'thanfz, such ,as `cuprous chloride, cuprous oxide, or cuprous bromide. The course ofthe reaction is. as follows: v

'mit s'inPatent' 2,609,388, without a catalyst'producing j 2,882,323 Patented i14;,

*Cef

large quantities of a substance' having conjugated 'double bonds. Such reaction is represented as follows:

Mercenyls-chloride ywithout catalyst .Productor Pat. 2,609,388.

See;Flg. 3 of this application.

The' product on the right. in thiszreaction is presentfto Athe extent'of 50to'^60% :when-z'the process ofsaidpatent is practiced. `The reaction of my invention carried out for'the` production of myrcene hydrochloride in which the 'hydro'- gen chloride is yadded to the conjugated systemis prefen 20 ably conducted at a temperature of ---10 to 3 C.' under substantially anhydrous conditions. f The reaction 'fis preferably carried out without a solvent.

The above reaction of my invention, employing-'asa catalyst, copper inthe form of metallic copper or fa univalent copper compound, is unique, resulting in lhigher yields lof the desired'product. For comparison, other ysubstances have been employed in the hydrochlorination of myrcene, described in the chart ibelow. But yall'of these other substancesgive results kwidely different from those Yobtained with the copper catalyst mentioned.

The products resulting fromy the -hydrochlorination-:of myrcene to introducey the hydrogen'chloride into the conjugated' system, inaccordance withmy invention, maybe hydrolyzed .to produce linaloo'l .and small amounts of 35 Vgeranioheach of which is a valuable perfume. `Infa'cldition, the hydrochlorinated compound of my invention Amay be directly reacted with-an alkali metal salt of a lower fatty acid such as-acetic, propionic or butyric acids, to form .geranyl and/.or neryl esters. The reaction for .The following ...are examples Avof fthe .way in now prefer to practice the invention. Itis to be under1 4taining same.

stoodthat these? examples are illustrative, and that the invention is lnot to be considered as restricted thereto, except as indicated in the appended claims. All parts givenv in the examples below are.by weight.

' j EXAMPLE 1 In a 120 gallon glass-lined kettle brine-jacketed, equipped with a stirrer, thermometer, gas inlet and outlet tube, trap and owmeter, was placed.

700 pounds beta-pinene pyrolizate containing about 75 myrcene and about 25% limonene 3 pounds copper powder 1 pound hydroquinone gas outlet.

The' crude reaction mixture contains about '600 pounds of myrcene hydrochloride, identiiedas such, which is worked up as follows:

To a stirred mixtureof 2,000 pounds of water, 260 pounds of calcium carbonate powder and 38 pounds of copper acetate, contained lin a kettle equipped with a -reux condenser, is added the crude reaction mixture from the hydrochlorination. The Vwhole is stirred at room temperature as long as carbon dioxide is evolved, and heat is then applied as necessary to complete the evolution of the carbon dioxide at a moderate rate. The temperature thus rises gradually to the reflux point and reflux is continued for about 8 hours. This hydrolysis process results in .approximately 700 pounds of a reac- -tion product containing about 35% linalool, about 20% terpineol, and geraniol, about 5% unhydrolyzed hydrochlorinated products, and the remainder tcrpene hydrocarbons containing limonene. n

This product is then steam distilled to separate the reaction product mentioned from the aqueous slurry con- The steam distillate is separated from its components by careful fractional distillation. With suciently careful fractional distillation the components of the mixture are separated in approximately the proportions mentioned.

The linalool, terpineol and geraniol have been identiied, and correspond to commercial products made under these names.

I have carried out the identical reaction above except for the substitution of cuprous oxide for metallic copper with substantially the same results. In that case I found that after the hydrochloric acid had been passed into the myrcene mixture for a time it was decomposed to form copper chloride and metallic copper. Hydrobromic acid acts in the same way. Hydroquinone is used only to prevent polymerization.

EXAMPLE 2 The process was carried out under substantially the same conditions as in Example 1. The myrcene employed is approximately 90% pure, but otherwise contains substantially the same impurities as the 75% myrcene of Example l.

The substances mentioned in the tests have been identied and correspond to commercial products made under the names given.

' 454 parts myrcene (90% pure), 1 part hydroquinone, 2.3 parts copper bronze powder, were mixed and cooled to 11 C. While maintaining a temperature of -11 C. to -5 C., 113.5 parts of anhydrous hydrogen chloy:'de was added with vigorous stirring, taking precautions 4 cium carbonate, 26 parts copper acetate, and 1.125 parts water.

The mass was stirred at room temperature for 2 hours and then refluxed for 8 hours.

The product was separated by steam distillation. An infrared test of the crude distillate showed that practically no conjugated system was present.

The oil layer was then fractionally distilled in vacuum of 2 mm., giving the following cuts:

1) Boiling point 32-45" C. at 2 mm. Was principally terpene hydrocarbons with minor amounts of hydrochlorination products.

(2) Boiling point 45-57 C. at 2 mm. Consisted principally of technical linalool, and had a refractive index at 20 C. of 1.4624, with minor amounts of impurities.

(3) Boiling point 57-58 C. at 2 mm. Consisted of technical terpineol.

(4) Boiling point Sti-60? C. at 2 of technical geraniol and nerol.

EXAMPLE 3 mm. 'Consisted This example was carried out under substantially A the same conditions as Example 1, using a myrcene which isapproximately 76% pure. cuprous chloride.

350 parts myrcene (76% pure), l part hydroquinone, 2.4 parts cuprous chloride were mixed and cooled to C. to 0 C.,l 75 parts anhydrous hydrogen chloride was added, taking precaution to exclude moisture. The crude reaction mixture contained linalyl chloride with small amounts of geranyl and neryl chloride.

The mixture is worked up in the same manner as in Example l to produce linalool, geraniol and nerol.

EXAMPLE 4 1,000 parts of myrcene (76% pure) in 1,000 parts of glacial acetic acid, 3 parts of hydroqunone, and 5 parts of copper bronze were mixed and cooled to 8 C. While maintaining a temperature of 8 to 15 C., 234 parts of anhydrous hydrogen chloride was added with vigorous stirring. Then 628 parts of anhydroussodium acetate and 10 parts of copper acetate were added. The mixture was stirred and reiiuxed for 9 hours. The mixture was poured on ice. The oil layer was separated and washed with water and then with a 5% sodium carbonate solution, and the product was distilled in high vacuum, about 2 mm. mercury. f

The following fractions were obtained:

(1) Boiling point 36-72" C., 499 parts principally ter'- pene hydrocarbons and hydrochlorination products.

2) Boiling point 7295 C. at 2 mm., 429 parts geranyl and neryl acetate testing 80% by saponiiication with 20% of geraniol, nerol and other impurities, which mixture is a perfume having the characteristic odor of a combination of the acetates mentioned. N 2=l.4710 to 1.4720.

In order to demonstrate the widely different results obtained by the metallic copper or univalent copper compound used as catalysts in accordance with my invention, I have made a number of runs of the process under exactly the same conditions, employing the catalysts of my invention as compared with other substances, and the results are given in the table below. All of the tests were made under conditions given in the above examples, the temperature employed being -15 to 30 C., using 0.2% hydroquinone. The weights of myrcene, hydrogen chloride and catalyst are given under these headings. In the last column of the table the percentage of conjugated diene is given, which as stated in the footnote, was deter mined from the intensity of the infrared absorption at 6.23# of the reaction product. It will be noted that in the table no solvent was used, except in Tests l5 and 16. These tests were made in accordance with Examples 4 and 3y respectively of the Knapp Patent 2,609,388.-

It willbe .noted that Tests l and 3-correspond substan- The catalyst employed was ltlall'y with Examples Zand 3., respectively, -vof thejpresent application.

It will be noted from the tests in the table that inTests 1 to 4, inclusive, where the copper catalystsfof the type employed byme are `used in accordance with my invention, there is no substantial vpercentage -of conjugated .diene,-whereas inall .of the .other testsnernploying different :substances or no catalyst, thepercentage of conjugated diene remaining afterhydrochlorination ranges from 40 to 70%. It is to be noted that V,myrcene is well known :as :a substance ,havingthree doublebonds, two of which areconjugatedtand Athe third is isolated. LinalooL-the product referred to in Example l and elsewhere, is a substance in which tno conjugatedfdonble bonds exist, as is f1. A lprocess.which comprises `treating myrcene with ra hydrogenf *halide selected from the group consisting Tof hydrogen chloride and ".hydrogenbromide, 'in the presence of *a catalyst--se`lectedfromf'the. group consisting vof.1netal- 'lic 'copperffand fa univalent copper compound under: sii-bstantially-fanhydrous-conditions, and adding the hydrogen halidefto-the myrcene-to form myrcene hydrohalide, in `which fthe hydrogen vhalidelisvadded to the f conjugated fdienesystem, ito` produce, aiproduct having no more-:than v1542/1 of conjugated diene.

.2. process which/comprises ltreating :myrcene-.:withaa well knovm. '15 ,hydrogen halide selected 4.from the ggroup kzof l 'Table I ,i 'I Percent -Tests',-`No. `Myrcene `i Y Solvent: f HCl Catalyst 1 Conjuated dielle l A,1.(1i1x.,2) .5......` 454(90%) ,p Clplierzgonzewm* -3 '2 s500695; ooppr nime, 1.1.; =s 3 (Ex. 3)---.... 350 (76% CurrtusC/ltlhloride, :13

. l1 4 204 (77%) Cuprous Oxide, 1.0 15

112 5 350 (76%) CiprzlChlorideAJ ea. 40

l1 l. 6 350 (76%) 2 Ijlney prepared ca.60

n 7 204(77%) Nickelous Chloride, ca.0

1 N lCls. 8 204 (77%) Cobaltous Chloea. 70

ride, 1 CoCls. 9 204 (77%) Platinum 5 (10% on ce. 50

asbestos). 10 204(77%) Palladium Chloride, ca.50

1 PdClz. 11 204 (77%) SilerClChlorlde. 1 ea. 60

g 12 204 (77%) LeIad Chloride. 1 :23.58

I. 204 76 Lithium Chloride ca.50 13 0.9 Lioi.

544 (72%) ..-do 121 None ca, 50 204 (76%) 204 Acetlc Acid-.- 42 .-dO 50 204 (76%) 127.5 CHCh--. 4l ---.-do 60 1 As determined from intensity of infrared absorption at 6.23# of the reaction product shown on spectrograms of each product listed in this column.

The results o f some of these tests showing the percentage of conjugated diene are graphically shown on the accompanying drawings forming part of this application, in which:

Fig. l shows an infrared spectrogram of myrcene hydro chloride resulting from the treatment of myrcene with hydrochloric acid in the presence of copper bronze as a catalyst, in accordance with Test 1.

Fig. 2 shows an infrared spectrogram of myrcene hydrochlorinated in the presence of cobaltous chloride as a catalyst, in accordance with Test 8 in the above table, and showing ca. (about) 70% conjugated diene.

Fig. 3 shows an infrared spectrogram of myrcene hydrochlorinated inthe presence of acetic acid in accordance with Example 4 of the Knapp Patent 2,609,388 (Test 15), and showing ca. (about) 50% conjugated diene.

Fig. 4 shows an infrared spectrogram of the alcohol section of synthetic linalool made in accordance with Example l of the present application. It shows that no system of conjugated double bonds is present; and

Fig. 5 is an infrared spectrogram of an alcohol section prepared from myrcene hydrochloride, without the catalyst employed in my invention according to Test 14. It shows that a system of conjugated double bonds is still present, the main product being myrcenol. Similar infrared spectrograms to those shown in the drawings have been prepared of all other tests shown in the table, @and the percentage of conjugated diene in each of the resulting products mentioned in said table has been taken from these spectrograms.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my applicahydrogen chloride and hydrogen bromide, in the presence of a catalyst containing a cuprous compound under substantially anhydrous conditions, adding the hydrogen halide to the myrcene to form myrcene hydrohalide, in which the hydrogen halide is added to the conjugated diene system to produce a product having no more than 15% of conjugated diene, and hydrolyzing the resulting myrcene hydrohalide with the production of at least one of the substances linalool, geraniol and nerol.

3. A process which comprises treating myrcene with a hydrogen halide selected from the group consisting of hydrogen chloride and hydrogen bromide, in the presence of a catalyst containing a cuprous halide under substantially anhydrous conditions, and adding the hydrogen halide to the myrcene to form myrcene hydrohalide, in which the hydrogen halide is added to the conjugated diene system, to produce a product having no more than 15% of conjugated diene.

4. A process which comprises treating myrcene with a hydrogen halide selected from the group consisting of hydrogen chloride and hydrogen bromide, in the presence of a catalyst containing cuprous chloride and copper powder under substantially anhydrous conditions, and adding the hydrogen halide to the myrcene to form myrcene hydrohalide, in which the hydrogen halide is added to the conjugated diene system, to produce a product having no. more than 15% of conjugated diene.

5. A process which comprises treating myrcene with hydrogen chloride in the'presence of metallic copper as a catalyst under substantially anhydrous conditions, andk adding the hydrogen chloride to the myrcene to form Yadding the hydrogen chlorideto the myrcene to form myrcene hydrochloride, in vwhich the hydrogen` chloride is added to the conjugated diene system, to produce a product having no more than 15% of conjugated diene.

7. A process which comprises treating myrccne with hydrogen chloride in the presence of metallic copper as a catalyst at a temperature of -10 C. to -3 C. under substantially anhydrous conditions, and adding the hychloride, in which the hydrogen chloride is added to the conjugated diene system to produce a product having no more than 15 of conjugated diene.

8. A process which comprises treating myrcene with hydrogen chloride in the presence of metallic copper as a catalyst under substantially anhydrous conditions, adding the hydrogen chloride to the myrcene to form myrcene hydrochloride, inf which thc hydrogen chloride is added to the conjugated diene system to produce a 25 (1940)- drogen chloride Vto the myreene to'form myrcenc .hydro- 15 8 product having no more than,15% ofconjugatcd diene, and hydrolyzing the myrcene hydrochloridetolproduoe linalool. r

References Cited in the file of'this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,246,547 soday June 24,1941 2,310,283 Gilliland Feb. 9, 1943 `2,328,275 Heard Aug. 31,1943 2,609,388 Knapp et al. Sept. 2, 1952 2,618,614 Bieiawskiez a1 Nov. 18, 1952 2,194,826 Ben eral. 1 rune 4, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS s i 435,858 Great Britain oct. 1,?1935 532,614 rGreat Britain Ian. 28, 1941 OTHER REFERENCES 20 i Carothers et al.: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 54, 4066-70 Carotherset al.: I. Am. AChem. Soc. 55, 786-788 (1933).

Kharasch et a1.: Lm." chem. soc. 62. 2041-51 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE i Certieate of Cerreetior. im'

Patent No. 2,882,323 April 14, 1959 Richard Weiss It is hereby certiiied that error appears in the printed Specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 1, line 23, for prefere read prefer-g lines 50 to 69, the formula should read as shown below instead of as in the patent:

Column 2, lines 3 to 12, the formule should appear as shown below instead of as in the patent:

om om f-CHl IJ O1 no ncl 11,0 om

H2O (|3131 H10 CIE En Hz Product of Pat. 2,609 388 See Fig. 3 o1 this application 2 aeeeee same column 2, lines 42 to 69, the formulaJ should appear as shown below instead of as in the patent:

C Ha

H10 C-H H2O C O CHS Geranylacetate and Nerylacetate Signed and sealed this 15th day of March 1960.

Attest: KARL H. AXLENE, Attesting Ooer.

ROBERT C. WATSON, Oommz'ssz'omr of Patents. 

2. A PROCESS WHICH COMPRISES TREATING MYRCENE WITH A HYDROGEN HALIDE SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF HYDROGEN CHLORIDE AND HYDROGEN BROMIDE, IN THE PRESENCE OF A CATALYST CONTAINING A CUPROUS COMPOUND UNDER SUBSTANTIALLY ANHYDROUS CONDITIONS, ADDING THE HYDROGEN HALIDE TO THE MYRCENE TO FROM MYRCENE HYDROHALIDE, IN WHICH THE HYDROGEN HALIDE IS ADDED TO THE CONJUGATED DIENE SYSTEM TO PRODUCE A PRODUCT HAVING NO MORE THAN 15% OF CONJUGATED DIENE, AND HYDROLYZING THE RESULTING MYRCRENE HYDROHALIDE WITH THE PRODUCTION OF AT LEAST ONE OF THE SUBSTANCES LINALOOL, GENANIOL AND NEROL. 